Thomas Hearne

Thomas Hearne, (born July 1678, Littlefield Green, White Waltham, Berkshire, Eng.—died June 10, 1735, Oxford, Oxfordshire), English historian and antiquarian whose editions of English medieval chronicles were important sources for subsequent historians.

Educated at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, Hearne acted as assistant librarian of Oxford’s Bodleian Library between 1699 and 1715 and did much to index and catalog its acquisitions. He lost his position there in 1716 because of his opposition to the Hanoverian regime of King George I, and he retired to St. Edmund Hall, where he continued writing until his death. Hearne’s manuscripts are numerous and include, in addition to the editions of the chronicles, such various topics as a biography of Sir Thomas Bodley; the Ductor Historicus (1698), a system of universal history and chronology from the creation to 1714; an introduction to ancient and English historians; and histories of ancient monarchies, emperors, and cities.